Clean Your Own Damn Toilet: Gen Z Cancels Toxic Bosses
We all know Miranda Priestly the iconic, terrifying fashion editor from The Devil Wears Prada - the drama, the fashion, the chaos screaming at assistants, demanding impossible tasks, and making everyone's life hell. A cinematic masterpiece? Absolutely. But also your actual 9-to-5 reality? Welcome to the creative industry in 2025, where toxic bosses still reign, but Gen Z is here to burn it all down.
For decades, people in fashion, media, and entertainment have accepted that workplace abuse is just part of the deal. Whether you’re writing, filming, designing, or even just making coffee. Long hours, impossible demands, verbal takedowns, all excused with a casual "that’s just how this industry works." But the industry didn’t change : its workforce did.
From Djerf Avenue horror stories , pure, power-trip humiliation (where an assistant was literally forced to clean her boss’s toilet) to viral TikToks exposing toxic ex-boss, it’s clear: the days of silent suffering are over. Gone are the times when we were expected to fetch impossible lattes or get verbally annihilated for breathing wrong. The rise of social media has pulled back the curtain on what was once whispered about in office hallways.
Gen Z Isn’t Playing Along
Unlike past generations who were told to "toughen up" or "pay their dues," today’s young workforce is calling out the BS and they’re doing it publicly. Imagine Andrea Sachs as a 2025 girly, she wouldn’t last two seconds under Miranda.
Not because she’s weak, but because she wouldn’t put up with it. She’d film the meltdown, post it with a "bestie, RUN" caption, and HR would be getting tagged within the hour.
Unlike past generations, Gen Z doesn’t see "toughing it out" as a badge of honor. They’re not here for the trauma bonding of suffering under a screaming boss. They value their mental health, set boundaries, and most importantly, they talk.
Old-school workplace abuse is finally getting the scrutiny it deserves, no bad boss stays hidden for long.
The Hypocrisy is Getting Exposed
And the biggest irony? Many of these so-called "visionaries" and "leaders" love to promote tolerance, diversity, and progressiveness—until they step into their own office. Screaming about "mental health awareness" and "diversity in the workplace"are the ones belittling and bullying their employees, expecting 24/7 availability, and using assistants as personal maids. Because, God forbid their day was too stressful playing their little office golf in their office.
The mask is slipping, and the culture of workplace bullying is finally being called out.
Of course, hierarchies still exist, and some execs are clutching onto their egos for dear life, desperately holding onto outdated ideas of power and control. But here’s the reality: you can either treat your employees like humans or become the next headline in a workplace horror story.
Employees are talking, recording, and quitting publicly and for every overworked assistant forced to suffer in silence, there’s another ready to air it all out online. The fear-driven workplace is crumbling, and no title, no status, and no "industry standard" will protect you when your leadership style belongs in the 2006 archives.
Respect is no longer optional.
It’s the bare minimum.
The fear-driven workplace is dying, and every new exposé is another nail in the coffin. Workers are demanding more, and companies are being forced to listen, whether they like it or not. Gen Z isn’t here to suffer for a dream job, they’re here to work with respect.
So if you’re still running your office like it’s 2006, stay ready : Gen Z won’t quit, they’ll cancel.
Signed, a generation that knows its worth.
by Noémi Zak
Image: Pinterest